Coilbox Technology Improves Steel Quality

DESIGN
PRODUCT
NEWS
January/
February 2007
Covering the total design engineering function in Canada
By Mike Edwards
Cover Story
Solid Edge software helps Hatch generate
Coilbox design variations
B
etween a rock and a hard place pretty much sums up the position of the
Coilbox in a steel hot strip mill.
Located between the roughing mill and
finishing mill stages, Coilbox technology
from Hatch (hatch.ca) of Mississauga, ON,
plays a key role in maintaining a high quality production process for flat steel products, all in a very aggressive environment.
The Coilbox is exposed to “water, scale,
high thermal and impact loads, and some
unpredictable operating conditions,” according to Darryl Metcalfe of the Hatch
Technologies engineering department.
A Coilbox is a mandrel-less coiler that
coils and uncoils steel transfer bars for metallurgical reasons, said Metcalfe. Transfer
bars coming out of the roughing mill can be
up to 100 m in length and rapidly lose heat
due to their large surface area; this causes
difficulties during the finishing process. By
coiling the steel, the surface area and accompanying heat loss is greatly reduced.
By permitting simultaneous engagement with the roughing mill, the Coilbox
reduces the distance needed to handle long
transfer bars. “There is a space advantage
using a Coilbox,” said Metcalfe. Since the
technology shortens the length of a hot
steel mill line, it consequently reduces the
overall length of the mill, he added. Similarly, installation of a Coilbox in an existing mill can accommodate longer products
to increase the product range.
Other Coilbox process advantages
include:
• Provision of a nearly constant temperature into the Finishing Mill to: save cost
with fewer finishing stands, require less
finishing mill power; hold coils in coil
form up to 5 min; and, accommodate
the different process times in the roughing and finishing sections, enabling
techniques such as balancing rolling
load and end-less rolling.
• Assistance with rapid removal of
material from the finishing mill in the
event of a stoppage or cobble.
• Permits insertion of reheated coils.
Coilbox installations date back to the
late 1970s through the Steltech division
of Stelco in Hamilton, ON. Hatch purchased the division 14 years ago and has
continued to refine the technology and
expand their role into design, first using
2D CAD tools and now the 3D mechanical CAD program Solid Edge (solidedge.
com) from UGS.
With turnkey multi-million dollar Coilbox systems being sold and commissioned
around the world by Hatch, the 50,000part designs, including 2000 unique parts,
The approach table to transfer steel bars into the
Coilbox is made up of multiple roller assemblies (3D
sample shown). Bar can be held in the coiled form up
to 5 minutes.
have to be accurate and not present assembly or interference surprises out in the field.
Projects have been completed for Liawu
Steel (China), Tangsteel (China), Hyundai Steel (Korea), Zaporozhstal (Ukraine),
Ansteel (China) and Corus (UK).
Hatch prefers to specify components
and subsystems that can be serviced by vendors with an international presence. Preferred suppliers include Parker and Bosch
Rexroth for hydraulic components, SKF for
bearings, Johnson for drive shafts and MTS
Sensors for Temposonic LVDT sensors.
Hatch’s biggest technology differentiator
on the Coilbox design lies in related process
knowledge and machine design expertise.
Contact UGS about Solid Edge
Americas: 800 807 2200
Europe: 44 0 1202 243455
Asia Pacific: 852 2230 3308
[email protected]
www.solidedge.com
Hatch mechanical designer John Matthews said, “we’ve used Solid Edge to design and detail six different Coilboxes.
“Solid Edge is a powerful 3D parametric feature based CAD software system
that can be used throughout the entire
product lifecycle.” The stages include concept, detail design and review, through to
documentation, manufacturing (CAM),
assembly and revision management.
Hatch also exploits most Solid Edge
add-on applications, including Xpress
Route, Standard Parts, Sheetmetal and
Weldments. Critical load-bearing segments
are examined using Ansys FEA software.
“Xpress Route helps with piping, a useful feature considering a Coilbox requires
about 600 grease points.”
In addition to the metallurgical sector,
parent company Hatch (hatch.ca) of Mississauga, ON, also supplies process and
business consulting, information technology, engineering, and project and construction management to the mining, manufacturing, energy and infrastructure industries.
Hatch has used Solid Edge to create electrode columns for electric arc furnaces, the
drive system for a Major League Baseball
stadium retractable roof, and a variety of
plant process equipment.
For drafting, Solid Edge provides Hatch
with multi position drawings, simplified
assemblies (dumbed down models), simplified parts, exploded views, linked borders and symbols, 2D parametric layouts,
embedded Excel spread sheets, multi
sheet drawings, drawing conversion to
AutoCAD and Microstation, batch print
and PDF tools.
Matthews added that file management
capabilities include Revision Manager for
file renaming (useful on large assemblies)
and a ‘Where Used’ search tool to identify
parts which may be impacted, as well as an
Updating Links feature for updating models linked to assemblies or draft files. The
Property Manager provides Hatch with
title block information updates on multiple
drawings at once (useful for drawing issuing) and Propseed Text ensures consistent
terminology is used and typos are avoided,
while Solid Edge Administrator sets permissions for different users and tools.
Published in DPN (Design Product News), January/February 2007. Copyright 2007. All rights reserved.
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